OBAKENG MELETSE
KEY members of the South African cricket World Cup squad continue to struggle for game time at the Indian Premier League (IPL), and with the conclusion of the CSA T20 Challenge, the writing might just not be on the wall yet with a few places up for grabs heading into the World Cup.
Proteas coach Rob Walter named a 15-player squad with two travelling reserves to represent South Africa in the West Indies and USA in the ICC T20 World Cup starting in June. The IPL is in the middle of its season and Walter has had to settle for locally-based players when selecting his provisional squad to tour the West Indies in preparation for the global event.
The tour will offer exposure to players who are making the step up to international cricket, but it might also be an opportunity to cement a starting berth ahead of the first match against Sri Lanka. Walter believes that even with a lack of game time, everyone will be ready when the tournament gets underway.
“In an ideal world, you’d like to come together for a period of time before the campaign, but sometimes that’s not possible. But for me what’s important is that the players are playing wherever that might be, the West Indies series initially would have been set aside in preparation for the World Cup.” he said.
“It does give us an opportunity to give players that are not part of the IPL some competitive cricket, and get them playing. We’ve been able to bring extra players to broaden our net, and there are also benefits to that, but I trust the guys that are doing their work.”
India will probably be the best prepared side at the tournament due to the IPL, but for the Proteas it becomes unfortunate that due to restrictions, a player such as Marco Jansen has only played one match in the tournament. Opener Quinton de Kock has not been in the best of form and missed out on a match against Mumbai Indians due to a niggle.
With Jansen being the only genuine all-rounder in the side, his lack of game time could bring Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin into the picture with his abilities with the bat.
The opening duo of Reeza Hendricks and Ryan Rickelton have piled on the runs and played a huge role in Lions being CSA T20 Challenge Champions. They are most likely to lead the way in the West Indies, and judging from how they do in the tour, a potential tough call of skill and reputation over match readiness could also come into the picture when the first eleven is selected against Sri Lanka.
“It’s always great to be able to reward guys that perform. Having a strong group of players pushing the top squad is imperative in any sport. The domestic competition, people have questioned the quality of it, but in my opinion I saw really good cricket,” he said.
“Players that were successful in the SA20 were successful in this competition; there was some good cricket and some average cricket, but there were stand-out performances and we got those performers that now have a chance to put their skills at a higher level, which is great.“